The State universities are gearing up to adopt a choice-based credit system (CBCS) from the next academic session (2015-16) despite several handicaps.The Government has to virtually force the ill-equipped and unprepared State institutions to adopt the new system as it is mandatory to get UGC and other Central grants. The State Government is not able to fund the higher education sector for which it needs Central grants. There is no harm in putting one’s foot into other other’s shoe, but the moot point is whether he can walk properly in other’s shoes. Needless to say, without doing its ground work, the State Government has prodded its institutions to follow a national pattern of education, but will the institutions themselves be able to cope with it for longIJ
Because of minuscule budgetary allocations over the years, the higher education is in complete disarray in Odisha. A host of problems cripple the State universities and colleges such as large scale vacancies, poor infrastructure and unhealthy academic ambience. Many colleges surviving on grant cast a sorry figure as the Government has failed to provide suitable and timely grant to the institutions. For sure, the Government seeks to avail Central grants to shrug off its huge financial burden by implementing the new CBCS anyway.
Recently, the principal conferences across the State have expressed their mood on the issue. Many principals only willy-nilly said ‘yes’ to the proposal of the Government to go ahead with CBCS even as there was a strong undercurrent of reservations. The reluctance to accommodate the new study pattern was obvious. Sadly, the State Government has not taken any concrete step to solve the problems of the universities and colleges over a long period of time.
The recommendations of the taskforce on higher education are in cold store. In the last 14 years of the BJD rule, higher education sector has remained the most neglected. Only some stray efforts have been made to bring about cosmetic changes, while a permanent solution still remains a far cry. The problems lie at various the levels like teachers, institutions, students, study pattern, examination pattern and over all governance of the institutions.
Most universities and Government and Government aided colleges are reeling under manpower shortage. Fund crunch has led to mounting vacancies of teachers which go unattended. This has a direct impact on the study ambience in the institutions. Despite the Government’s step to recruit fresh teachers through the OPSC, the posts created are too less, while various irregularities during the recruitment at times are delaying the process far too long. It has been a rule rather than an exception that OPSC recruitment is often marred by legal disputes.
Many colleges do not have permanent principals, as a result of which the administration gets loose. Even as there are many senior teachers, they are deprived of UGC sale of pay as the State Government is not prepared to provide the matching grant for it. This is the reason why UGC grant has been stopped over last two decades or so with the result that the State has been losing a huge sum of money as Central grant. The State is also losing huge Central grants on higher education because of its inability to segregate Plus II from Plus III and ensure compliance with other guidelines.
The most horrible thing found in the State higher education is the Government’s grant-in-aid (GIA) policy. Because of policy paralysis, the colleges are now found in confusing categories such as full GIA, full Block Grant, 40 per cent Block Grant and unaided institutions. Besides, there are also self-financing colleges, apart from the Government colleges. The teachers are not under a uniform scale of pay. Nor is a benchmark maintained while recruiting the teachers.
There is wide disparity in the pay and status of the teachers doing the same work. This has been happening due to a faulty aid policy adopted by the Government. Under the Block Grant policy, the teachers are treated as contractual labourers. It looks as if the Government has framed the policy to rehabilitate a section teachers on humanitarian ground without allowing them get their due status.
On the infrastructure point of view, there are many colleges which cut a sorry figure. The Government has not cared to spend a pie on the infrastructure development of the colleges which are started with local initiatives and later taken over by the Government through GIA or Block Grant. Only MlA or MP lAD funds are the beckon light for these institutions.
Consequently where political affiliation is strong, the colleges are sound in infrastructure but the rest are running without adequate numbers of class rooms, library, laboratory and other minimum facilities. The Government needs to bridge the gap between the colleges, pay proper grant and status to the teachers, fill in the vacancies and build up minimum infrastructure before imposing the new system on them, opine many intellectuals.